Immigration Delays: European passengers face huge delays this summer

Airports in Spain, France, Italy, Belgium and Portugal face immigration queues of up to four hours.

Thousands of flights recently had to be delayed because EU border controls are significantly understaffed to comply with tightened immigration checks — some passengers even missed their flights. During this busy summer travel season, airline travellers have become victims of the disproportionate impact that the implementation of a new EU Regulation is having on the flow of traffic at European airports. The regulation relates to the reinforcement of checks against relevant databases at external borders.

The regulation is not fully implemented in all Member States, which may lead to even more disruption during the next weeks. The six month period to implement the regulation ends on 7th October 2017.

The media are reporting on Passport Immigration queues at several European airports with customers experiencing delays due to extra checks on both arrivals and departures.

The main delay issues which ebb and flow at different parts of the day are in Lyon (LYS), Milan Linate (LIN), Madrid (MAD) and Barcelona (BCN), but other airports are affected as well especially on peak days on some of the Spanish islands.

We advise passengers to allow extra time as you may experience longer queues at this busy time of the year.